‘Struggling’: Romney makes gains in Gallup poll

All we’ve heard these past two weeks is how much Mitt Romney is “struggling.”

Apparently, he’s struggling to keep President Barack Obama’s poll numbers from falling too quickly. It seems that voters have the temerity not to be particularly interested in what pundits are telling them to think about the race. Obama has dropped six percentage points in a week, allowing Romney to close to within one point of the president, according to the latest Gallup tracking poll released on Tuesday.

The convention bounce seems to be over.

There are two ways to look at this: 1. Most minds are made up and (outside of some massive surprise) nothing Romney or Obama says will change the dynamics of the race, or, 2. Obama has reached his ceiling and Romney still has a chance to make his case. Perhaps Romney’s recent 47-percent comments will be a game changer, but I doubt it.

Rasmussen shows Romney up one point.

It’s not all good news for Republicans, though. A new Washington Post poll finds that Obama is up 52-44 over Romney in Virginia — a must-win state for the GOP. Call me skeptical. I’m sure Virginia is close, but as the graphic below illustrates, the poll features the traditional Washington Post Democrat-Republican split — which to put it mildly, does not seem plausible.

Make of this poll what you will. Now, I’m not one for predictions, but does anyone really believe that Republicans will make up only 24 percent of Virginia voters?